Water the rose within.

Taken from The Sunday Star, 27th February 2005.
By Mohammed Ismail.

A man planted a rose and watered it faithfully. A bud came out and he saw that it would soon blossom. Then he noticed thorns on the stem and wondered, "How can any beautiful flower come form a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?"

Saddened by this thought, the man neglected to water the rose. Just before it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul, there is a rose. The god-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amidst the thorns or our faults.

But many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us and eventually, it dies. We never realise our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is being able to reach past the thorns of another, and find the rose within them.